Italy – an expat’s view

A postcard from Umbria is an anthology of articles written by an experienced author describing her and her husband’s exploits as they emigrate nearly 2,000 km due south – a journey which takes them from the UK to the Umbria region of central Italy. Before they can live in their new house, they have to spend six fruitless hours in front of a Notary because the vendor had built an extension without planning permission and then their removal men knock down the gate pier and get snowed in. Later they relocate within Italy to a house built on the site of another house destroyed by an earthquake. It has been left abandoned and needs some very ingenious restoration.

Along the way, there are snippets about hunters, the limited Italian diet, the bitterly cold winters, and vivid descriptions of native wildlife such as wild boar, snakes, butterflies and porcupines.

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There is plenty of humour, pathos, and wit in the articles which paint a fascinating, if somewhat different picture to that portrayed by television crews in whose world the sun always shines (when temperatures down to -12C are the norm in winter) and the olive oil crop is ‘liquid gold’ (when the reality is that the cost of labour picking the olives and then pressing them grossly exceeds their value for most landowners).

Alongside the text are numerous photographs taken by the author who is also a keen natural history photographer.

Although ‘A postcard from Umbria’ is a very unique and personal account of two British expats who moved to Italy, it is also a valuable source of advice for anyone considering making the move.